Kenya records the latest death of innocents

Updated
September 24, 2013 16:30:00

In Kenya, the massive security operation to secure the shopping mall attacked by Islamic militants is moving into an examination of how such an attack could take place, and which individuals may have been involved. More than 60 people were killed - most of them Kenyan nationals. There were others: a Tasmanian-born man and his fiance who were in the country carrying out development work; a prominent Ghanian poet; a young and rising radio host; and a Canadian diplomat. All of the victims had a story to tell.

PETER LLOYD: Now to Kenya where the security operation to take back control of the shopping mall is winding down, just as questions are being raised about how it could have happened.

More than 60 people were killed, most of them Kenyan nationals.

There were others though - a Tasmanian-born man and his fianc who were in the country carrying out development work; a prominent Ghanian poet; a young and rising radio host; and a Canadian diplomat.

All of the victims had a story to tell. Barney Porter looks at some of them.

BARNEY PORTER: Violent Islamist groups are active in hotspots around the globe, and they can also appear unexpectedly in innocuous locations. As Kenyan shoppers found out last weekend.

The victims are either specifically targeted or random innocents - the wrong place, wrong time category.

An Al Shabaab commander, Abu Omar, has also spoken to Al Jazeera.

ABU OMAR: Al Qaeda are our leaders, they are mentors, they are leaders. And they (inaudible) all engaged in a single conflict against the international Christian crusade.

BARNEY PORTER: Kamal Kaur was hosting a children's cooking competition when the gunmen struck. Her 12-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son were injured.

She's described the absolute confusion and terror of those first moments to the BBC.

KAMAL KAUR: I had about 30 to 33 kids with me. The shooting was going on. It was going on. So we were in the corner. Just as I was telling everybody, bend down, just get down, because the adults were worse, they were animals; they were climbing on top of the kids to jump over the walls. And I was trying to save all the little children over there. They were just stepping on the children.

BARNEY PORTER: Kenya has clearly suffered the biggest loss of life, while the foreign victims are believed to have come from China, Ghana, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Britain and Australia.

Among them was 33-year-old Tasmanian Ross Langdon, and his Dutch-born partner, Elif Yavuz.

In recent years, his focus had been on sustainable projects in Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, while his wife had recently met Bill Clinton through her work with the Clinton Health Action Initiative

She was also expecting their first child.

The British government says it believes six of its nationals died in the attack including Jennah, the eight-year-old daughter of businessman Louis Bawa, as well as his wife, Zahira.

They were Muslims.

He's told the Daily Telegraph newspaper his "heart just stopped" when he was asked to identify them from photographs of their bodies.

A relative, Ajeh Bawa, has spoken to ITV news.

AJEH BAWA: Well my aunty called us to let us know that Louis is on the TV and something's happened. And then I can't really explain the reaction to it that family members stuck in the mall really. She had her whole life ahead of her and these horrid people just took it away from her.

BARNEY PORTER: Renowned Ghanaian poet, professor Kofi Awoonor - 78-years-old and a former diplomat - was in the city attending a literary festival celebrating pan-African writing and storytelling.

His son, Afetfi Awoonor, was shot in the shoulder. He's reported to be in shock.

BARNEY PORTER: One of two Canadians killed in the attack came from a family of foreign service officers who lived all over the world.

CBS News says 29-year-old Annemarie Desloges was off-duty and shopping with her husband, Robert Munk, who was injured in the assault.

CBS News reports another Canadian, Vancouver businessman Naguib Damji, was having coffee in the mall when the attack began.

He suffered a heart attack and died.

BARNEY PORTER: As the authorities now turn their attention to how the attack took place, perhaps the last comment on the gunmen should come from Ibrahim Baraki, a Kenyan immigrant to the US.

IBRAHIM BARAKI: They do not represent any religion. They do not represent any community. They do not represent any nationalities. They are an organised gang of members who are criminals, who have conspired to kill and destroy innocent lives.